You may have noticed that some days in the Food Lover's Cleanse schedule had snacks written in, and some didn’t: That was unintentional, and the issue should be fixed now. In this program every day should be snack day! I apologize for any confusion, and for any bleary afternoons in these first couple of days.

Snacking, I’ve found, is the secret tool of disciplined eating. Eaten at the right time, a snack gives me a sense of ease and an even-burning fire in the belly. I like a rather late-afternoon snack, around 3:30 or 4: that’s when I tend to go rifling for handfuls of cereal or dipping into the cheese drawer. If I plan a good snack, it feels like a real treat, and I know I can stave off grazing. Yesterday, I had a small bowl of Greek yogurt, with mangoes and some of that spicy seed mix that’s almost a sort of savory granola. I love that crunchy-spicy-slightly sweet combination. I had put the snack off long enough to be just shy of ravenous, but once I’d eaten, I managed to get my son some crackers without popping one habitually in my mouth. (I like to celebrate small victories.)

Planning your snack is the key, and we hope our fixes will make it easier to do just that. But more than any other part of the plan, you should choose the snack that works for you. (I.e., don’t sweat the smoothie if you don’t have a blender at the office!) I don’t think snack time is necessarily the time to be very creative. It should be a nice, satisfying treat, and convenient too; just make sure that it has a solid dose of fiber and/or protein in it to make you feel sated.

If you crave sweets, have an apple, a pear or orange; try coupling it with a small bit of nut butter, seeds, or a half-ounce of fresh chevre to give the fruit a little staying power.

If you want something salty, have a hard-boiled egg with some smoked salt, or a quarter of an avocado on a thin rye cracker, sprinkled with chile flakes and sea salt.

Of course, the first couple of days of the program can take some getting used to, appetite-wise: I’m always a bit startled when, as I did yesterday, I feel a little hungry before meals; that’s not the normal state of affairs for me. Whenever I’m feeling a little nibbly and it’s not snack time, I’ve taken to fixing myself a cup of tea. For these two weeks, I’ve switched to strictly lower caffeine oolongs and green teas, and I’m almost never without a warm cup in my hand.

I hope many of you got to try the chocolate bark we scheduled for dessert yesterday: It’s crunchy, rich, and just a bit salty, and really provides a satisfying finish to a day of being disciplined. Because it’s so intense, I find I’m happy with just a morsel, unlike, say, the cookies I ate like popcorn over the holidays. Shoot: I mentioned cookies. Now I have to go fix another cup of tea.